Israel has faced international condemnation and protests after its forces intercepted around 40 boats carrying aid and more than 400 foreign activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, to Gaza.
Cameras broadcasting live feeds from the boats, verified by Reuters, showed armed Israeli soldiers sporting helmets and night vision goggles boarding the ships, while passengers huddled together in life vests with their hands up.
A video from the Israeli foreign ministry showed Sweden’s Thunberg, the most prominent of the flotilla’s passengers, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.
Thunberg, 22, best known for her environmental protests, had pre-recorded a video which was released on her behalf after her ship was boarded.
“If you are watching this video, I have been abducted and taken against my will by Israeli forces. Our humanitarian mission was non-violent and abiding by international law,” she said.
Those vessels intercepted and those on board were expected to be taken initially to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where one ship was seen arriving by a Reuters witness.
“All the passengers are safe and in good health. They are making their way safely to Israel, from where they will be deported to Europe,” the Israeli foreign ministry said on X.
“One last vessel of this provocation remains at a distance. If it approaches, its attempt to enter an active combat zone and breach the blockade will also be prevented,” it added.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, the organiser of the voyage, said an estimated 443 volunteers had been detained, some of them transferred to one large cargo vessel before being taken ashore.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday criticised Israeli aggression, saying it showed Israel’s government has no intention of letting hopes for peace grow.
Israeli strikes and gunfire have killed at least 41 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to hospitals, as Hamas still considers its response to US President Donald Trump’s proposal for ending the nearly two-year war.
The plan requires Hamas to return all 48 hostages — about 20 of them thought by Israel to be alive — give up power and disarm in return for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and an end to fighting.
However, the proposal, which has been accepted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sets no path to Palestinian statehood.
Palestinians long for the war to end, but many believe the plan favours Israel, and a Hamas official told The Associated Press that some elements were unacceptable, without elaborating.
Qatar and Egypt, two key mediators, said it requires further negotiations on certain elements.
At least 27 people were killed by Israeli fire in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies.
Officials there said 14 of them were killed in an Israeli military corridor where there have been frequent shootings around the distribution of humanitarian aid.
Officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah said they had received 13 dead from Israeli strikes.
In Gaza City, health officials at Shifa Hospital said they received one body and several wounded people, adding that its staff are having difficulties reaching the hospital as Israel wages a major offensive aimed at occupying the city.
A senior Hamas official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that some points in the proposal agreed upon by Trump and Netanyahu are unacceptable and must be amended, without elaborating.
He said the official response will only come after consultations with other Palestinian factions.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media about the ongoing talks, the official said Hamas had conveyed its concerns to Qatar and Egypt.
The Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that triggered the war killed some 1200 people, while 251 others were abducted.
Most of the hostages have been freed under previous ceasefire deals.
The Trump plan would guarantee the flow of humanitarian aid and promises reconstruction in Gaza, placing its more than two million Palestinians under international governance.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 66,200 Palestinians and wounded nearly 170,000 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its toll, but has said women and children make up around half the dead.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government.
UN agencies and many independent experts view its figures as the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
Around 400,000 Palestinians have fled famine-stricken Gaza City since Israel launched a major offensive there last month.
On Thursday morning, smoke could be seen in northern Gaza and people were fleeing the area headed south.
Israel’s defence minister on Wednesday ordered all remaining Palestinians to leave Gaza City, saying it was their “last opportunity” and that anyone who stayed would be considered a militant supporter.
While Hamas’ military capabilities have been vastly depleted, it still carries out sporadic attacks.
On Wednesday, at least seven projectiles were launched into Israel from Gaza, but all were either intercepted or fell in open areas, with no reports of casualties, the Israeli military said.